In a bizarrely coincidental turn of events, JHS Pedals and Electro-Harmonix have each separately announced new overdrive pedals today - both called the Crayon.
The JHS Pedals The Crayon is a smaller version of the JHS Colour Box pedal and emulates the distorted tones of a guitar plugged directly into a classic British preamp, as heard in the guitar intro to The Beatles’ “Revolution.” Featuring master, pre-volume and EQ knobs, as well as a high-pass filter switch, the pedal is capable of fuzz, distortion, and overdrive sounds.
The Electro-Harmonix Crayon is a versatile overdrive and distortion that gives players more frequency range options with its bass and treble knobs in contrast to most overdrive pedals, which focus on a boosted mid-range. It comes in two different enclosure designs and can be stacked as a mild overdrive or turned up for hard distortion.
Despite both pedals falling into the overdrive category, it is clear that they are made for distinctly different purposes. We won’t wax on about which you should buy, but it’s clear that both Crayons can help add a bit of color to whatever sonic palette you are drawn towards.